SoftBank Messaging Giant To Launch NFT Marketplace in Japan

Japanese messaging giant Line Corp. announced the launch of its forthcoming NFT marketplace on Wednesday. 

The marketplace, which is slated to go live on April 13, will run on the LINE blockchain — the company’s proprietary network. Users can hold their digital collectibles in the company’s LINE BITMAX wallet. 

The platform, called Line NFT, will sell over 100 kinds of NFTs (non-fungible tokens), per a Coinpost report. NFTs will be integrated as avatars for Line’s messaging services in the future. 

The marketplace will partner with various Japanese companies including video game developer Square Enix, entertainment franchise Yoshimoto Kogyo and Patlabor. 

Z Holdings, another subsidiary of SoftBank, will reportedly build a similar marketplace, DOSI, in 180 countries. Line’s platform, however, is separate from Z Holdings’ NFT plans.

“It’s possible Web3 will herald a world where life is completely different, and we don’t want the company to miss out on the huge growth opportunity,” Kentaro Kawabe, co-chief executive of Z Holdings, said in an interview.

The formation of both subsidiaries of the Japanese conglomerate follow closely on the heels of e-commerce company Rakuten’s NFT plans.

Rakuten announced its marketplace for blockchain-based assets on Feb. 25 and will allow users to buy, sell and trade cryptoassets based on Japanese manga and TV shows.

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